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People comparing Cummings to Caroline Flack

203 replies

panhandledrama · 27/05/2020 10:15

I am quite shocked to see a number of posts in the last few days comparing the media treatment of Dominic Cummings to that of Caroline Flack . And how we need to #bekind
Surely there is no comparison! Caroline was a minor celebrity who was hounded due to a domestic incident
Cummings told us as a nation what we can't do and then did it himself while other people lost jobs and couldn't say goodbye to dying loved ones due to sticking to HIS rules. People are outraged that other (labour) mp's have done similar but they aren't the prime ministers puppet master

Surely people can see that these are totally different scenarios and people have a right to be outraged this time!

OP posts:
GentleParent · 27/05/2020 12:42

@TabbyMumz - Why is scrutiny awful? He was given access to the Downing Street Rose Garden and given the opportunity to put his case uninterrupted and at length - and asked probing questions. Genuinely - what is wrong with that? He was given a huge platform and so much more opportunity to reply than most people who come under the media spotlight.

The only undignified thing about it was his response! And the ones being treated with zero respect are the electorate.

This feels like a huge tipping point in our democracy - someone is lying, has been caught out in their lies, and the government is backing them up. So why on earth are we reducing this to the level of how stressful it might be for him? When you do something wrong and then lie about it on national TV, I imagine it is bloody stressful! "I'm not enjoying this process" is not a defence in court, is it?!

PinkiOcelot · 27/05/2020 12:42

He might as well of sat there there in that garden and flicked us the bird.

He’s a lying, arrogant arse hole. Him and Bozo are taking this whole country for fools.

GentleParent · 27/05/2020 12:43

@Tomorrowsanewday - Ah, I see! I agree - they should apply to everyone!

YounghillKang · 27/05/2020 12:44

As I've said, regardless of his actions, he should not be hounded to do anything

He's not being hounded he's being held up to scrutiny by people who have lost friends and family and by the press ( who are doing what Johnson was too weak to do). He lied and he broke the rules and he's trying to get away with it, and putting others in the position of covering up for him. And now when that's not working entirely in his favour his PR people are trying to paint him as a martyr. You may fall for that strategy, I'm not.

TabbyMumz · 27/05/2020 12:45

"oTabbyMumzwhat is awful is 13 year old children dying on their own without their mum or dad with them. Because, you know, rules."
You can blame the virus for that, not him.

Nihiloxica · 27/05/2020 12:46

hounded due to a "domestic incident"

The media reported on the fact that she assaulted her boyfriend with a lamp.

Can we please not "domestic incident" as a euphemism for intimate partner assault?

Jesus.

GentleParent · 27/05/2020 12:48

@TabbyMumz - Can you honestly not see that how we deal with the virus will have an impact on how many people the virus is able to kill?

WildIrishRose1 · 27/05/2020 12:49

The comparison is appalling and a red herring to detract from what Cummings did and what ultimately is being condoned by the PM. As a policy advisor, Cummings WAS involved in drawing up a policy affecting 60+ MILLION people, Johnson and the government are responsible for ensuring its implementation. Johnson (and the MPs defending Cummings' actions), have decided that they and Cummings, and their careers, are worth more than the lives of the entire population of the UK. That mindset is truly shocking.

GentleParent · 27/05/2020 12:50

@WildIrishRose1 - YES! Thank you. I thought I was going freakin crazy on this thread. Some of the attitudes are baffling!

Eskarina1 · 27/05/2020 12:55

TabbyMunz, the virus was to blame for the child dying. The rules are the reason he died without his mum. And the reason many children were unable to say goodbye to parents, or to have the comfort of other family when bereaved. And why bereaved partners had to solo parent possibly while also ill. To retrospectively say that the rules are less important than parenting instinct when parents were given no choice about any of those situations is offensive.

My mum's neighbour lost her adult son basically as lockdown started. She has been alone in her flat with that knowledge. She isn't and won't be ok.

donquixotedelamancha · 27/05/2020 13:08

The endless threads about this are extremely irritating ,so so many people feel their not unique opinion requires a new thread

Not as annoying as the people who feel they can police what others discuss, or the ones who post just to say the topic is boring to them.

Can you find a humourous comment to complain isn't funny for a Hyacinth Hat Trick?

donquixotedelamancha · 27/05/2020 13:13

Caroline was a minor celebrity who was hounded due to a domestic incident

For me the key difference is that Flack was punished and regretted what she did.

Cummings hasn't even been spoken to by the police and still believes he was completely right. The governement is retroactively changing the interpretaion of laws to protect it's own.

An OP on another thread was spoken to by the police and threatened with a fine for letting her child play in sand when lockdown has ended.

The resentment and frustration this incident (and the inconsistnecy in the advice generally) are causing is changing behaviour which will kill people in the end.

runrunrunrunt · 27/05/2020 13:14

People seem to ignore the fact that his four year old son was hospitalised
Are you joking? A 13 year old child died because his parents weren't allowed to be with him. Where were special circumstances then?

TabbyMumz · 27/05/2020 13:15

"TabbyMumz- Why is scrutiny awful? He was given access to the Downing Street Rose Garden and given the opportunity to put his case uninterrupted and at length - and asked probing questions. Genuinely - what is wrong with that? He was given a huge platform and so much more opportunity to reply than most people who come under the media spotlight."

He didnt have to answer the questions at all. He'd already answered them to the Prime Minister. It was awful because he was literally interrogated with the full country watching him. This is something advisors wouldnt normally do. They are normally in the background. He was a broken man. I just wish it would all stop now. He's answered the questions, he should now be left alone.

MashedPotatoBrainz · 27/05/2020 13:16

This is bigger than Cummings now. He broke the rules and lied about it. We all know that. Now this issue is that our Prime Minister and other elected representatives are standing up in front of the nation and lying to us to protect him. This is now about truth, democracy and accountability. Are our elected representatives accountable to us, or are they a law unto themselves? Do our MPs serve us, or do we serve them?

TabbyMumz · 27/05/2020 13:17

"I'm not enjoying this process" is not a defence in court, is it?!
People going through a court process get treated better than him. He is being treated worse than the moors murderers.

runrunrunrunt · 27/05/2020 13:17

@TabbyMumz the virus caused the death. The being alone part was caused by the government rules that conveniently no longer exist.

WildIrishRose1 · 27/05/2020 13:19

@TabbyMumz by being the chief policy advisor to the PM, and an architect of the C-19 policies, he effectively controls significant part of people's lives, so, yes, it is incumbent upon him to answer to us, as should the PM.

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 27/05/2020 13:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MashedPotatoBrainz · 27/05/2020 13:20

It was awful because he was literally interrogated with the full country watching him.

He arranged it. It was exactly what he wanted. He could have released a statement to the press but chose not to. Why? Because of this:

He was a broken man. I just wish it would all stop now.

The result he wanted. Well done, you let him play you like a fiddle and you can't even see it.

TabbyMumz · 27/05/2020 13:20

"GentleParent

@TabbyMumz- Can you honestly not see that how we deal with the virus will have an impact on how many people the virus is able to kill?"

Yes and we need to let them get on with doing exactly that. Dealing with the virus and not side tracking this with the Cummings issue. Every bit of reporting is all about him and I for one dont want to hear it, I want the press to move on and get back to reporting on the virus etc. Its disgusting to watch, a family being hounded like that

Smilethoyourheartisbreaking · 27/05/2020 13:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

longwayoff · 27/05/2020 13:21

This comparison is an insult to Caroline Flack. There must be miles of CCTV with Mr Cummings and co featuring on it. Who's got it?

TabbyMumz · 27/05/2020 13:21

"The result he wanted. Well done, you let him play you like a fiddle and you can't even see it."
No, the press did that. They want him hung, drawn and quartered.

MashedPotatoBrainz · 27/05/2020 13:24

No, the press did that. They want him hung, drawn and quartered.

That's right, you keep singing from the Cumming's hymn sheet like a good little sheep. All while he's pissing himself laughing behind your back.

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